so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: the 2012 election may be over, but for president obama, the campaign goes on. ray suarez has that. >> suarez: it was the president's latest bid to seize the spotlight on a major question of the day. today's issue: how the avoid across-the-board spending cuts now set for march 1. >> i still believe that we can finish the job with a balanced mix of spending cuts and more tax reform. congress is already working towards a budget that would permanently replace the quester. at the very least we should give name chance to come up with this budget instead of making an indiscriminate cut now that will cost us jobs and significantly slow down our recovery. >> this was held in the white house briefing room. earlier the president was flanked by local police in minneapolis calling for stricter gun legislation. >> there's no reason why we can't get that done. that's not a liberal idea or conservative idea. not a democratic or republican idea, that is a smart idea. we want to keep those guns out of the hands of folks who shouldn't have them. >> and last week another